Green Holidays

How can a country do so well in some things and so bad in others?

We all know from our own experiences that we are better at some aspects of green living, but not so hot on others. 

For example, recycling, reusing and reducing everything, having your own allotment and not having kids may well earn you massive green brownie points - but then you can easily talk yourself into that sunshine break in the Caribbean!

So, how do countries make those choices?

I was recently reading about Malta in the Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe and I was very pleased with their green credentials.

They have several de-salination parks and have done so for decades.  They have a natural shortage of water being so hot and so small that they also don’t really have gardens either - so that they don’t have to waste resources watering them.

The Maltese people build on every square inch of ground so that no land is wasted - and they build small and dark properties in tiny thin streets to maximise the shade and shadow around their properties.  This means that they don’t have to cool themselves with energy-sapping air conditioning.

Their tiny windows stop the sun from heating their houses back up the following morning (unlike all the tourist flats that have great big sliding windows to let in as much sun and heat as possible - well, the air con will cool it down afterwards!).

Their public transport - old buses - runs a regular cheap service so car use can be reduced, and they recycle almost everything.

And, as the evening arrives, everyone files out onto the streets and promenades and parks to mix with friends which keeps community spirit high (no one is going to grafitti, drop litter or cause damage to the areas their family and friends visit every day!).  It also, as a result, reduces energy consumption indoors as nobody is watching TV and leaving their lights on!

Sounds great for an eco destination?

Until you put everything else together, like how to get there.  Most people will fly there as it is still about an hour or so from it’s nearest neighbour Sicily.  Even overland commuters need to get to the very toe of Italy, before boating to Sicily, then crossing most of the island to get the ferry to Malta.  Other boat crossings are available - but if you are thinking of a cruise ship - you may as well fly for all the eco credentials they have!

They are also building all the time, building upwards and outwards.  Recent developments all along the main Strand in Sleima - right to the very end.  All hi-rise apartments for more and more tourists. 

The whole region is just one great big dust cloud.  All the parked cars are covered with a layer of dust - as well as some of the stray cats!  Just in 1 photo of the skyline there were about 10 different cranes at work!

The regular buses are all old though, and the fumes that come ballooning out of the exhausts are not always a pretty site!

And lets not even go into detail about the wildlife offences that this country is often remembered for.

I could go on, but I only wanted to touch on the fact that many countries are touting how well they are doing in green tourism and development - and many of the things they achieve are to be rewarded and applauded - but it cannot be at the loss of other standard requirements - like peace and quiet!

So, whenever you are sizing up one destination against the other, don’t just look at what you know is good - maybe make a comparison list of the things that are bad as well, and think about those.

For example would you be more annoyed if someone shot dead 500 endangered birds than if they crammed 500 more holiday apartments on the coast?  Would you rather a country reduced their water consumption or decreased the number of buses they use?

Interesting discussions.